HARTFORD–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced that Halda Therapeutics, based in New Haven, was named “Innovator of the Month.” Halda is a biotechnology company developing a new class of precision medicines, called RIPTAC™ therapeutics, that work by utilizing a novel “hold and kill” mechanism as an innovative approach to targeting and eradicating cancer cells. Halda’s medicines target cancer by holding together a tumor-specific protein and a protein with essential function to directly kill the cancer cell.

“There are few people who haven’t been impacted by cancer. It can be a devastating diagnosis, but we’ve made great strides toward finding a cure. The team at Halda Therapeutics is taking an innovative approach to dramatically improve cancer treatments, and I look forward to seeing their continued success in Connecticut,” said Murphy.

“We are proud to be recognized by Senator Murphy as an innovator in the vibrant biotech and business hub of New Haven, Connecticut, and for our work generating a powerful, ground-breaking mechanism to treat cancer,” said Kat Kayser-Bricker, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Halda Therapeutics. “We specifically chose to locate Halda Therapeutics within this community of world-class scientific and research innovation, and we look forward to continued growth as we move our products towards the clinic.”

The company’s scientific founder, Craig Crews, PhD, Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University, is a serial entrepreneur of biotechnology companies who set the vision for RIPTAC therapeutics which Halda has invented as a new drug modality for life changing medicines for cancer patients. Halda’s lead program is an orally-available therapeutic for prostate cancer, and the company is also building a pipeline of RIPTACs for many cancers with unmet treatment needs.

Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are the building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies—the Angel Tax Credit Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year.

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